Norrbotten Wing (), also F 21 Luleå, or simply F 21, is a

Swedish Air Force The Swedish Air Force ( or just ) is the air force Military branch, branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. History The Swedish Air Force was created on 1 July 1926 when the aircraft units of the Army and Navy were merged. Because of the escalatin ...

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

with the main base located in

Luleå Airport Luleå Airport is located about 7 km (4.3 mi) south-southeast of Luleå, Sweden, near the village of Kallax. The official name according to the Swedish Aeronautical Information Publication is Luleå/Kallax Airport. The airport handled ...

in northern

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. It is one of the three remaining wings in Sweden and currently has two squadrons of multirole aircraft. F 21 in the north and F 17 in the south are the two wings remaining to have operational squadrons. F 7 is a school where pilots begin their training in the JAS 39 Gripen. Once completed the pilot's training is moved out to the two operational wings where they acquire their final training.

History

Parts of the Swedish helicopter forces are today stationed at F 21 with

MEDEVAC Medical evacuation, often shortened to medevac or medivac, is the timely and efficient movement and en route care provided by medical personnel to patients requiring evacuation or transport using medically equipped air ambulances, helicopters an ...

in subarctic climate as its main task. The wing uses the

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

of Luleå as the emblem. F 21 currently operates two HKP 10B in Afghanistan. F 21 figures in the crime novel ''The Red Wolf'' by

Liza Marklund Eva Elisabeth "Liza" Marklund (born 9 September 1962) is a Swedish journalist and crime writer. Her novels, of which most feature the fictional newspaper journalist Annika Bengtzon, have been published in forty languages. Marklund is the co-own ...

. Current fleet: *

JAS 39 Gripen The Saab JAS 39 Gripen ( ; English: ''Griffin'') is a light single-engine supersonic multirole fighter aircraft manufactured by the Swedish aerospace and defence company Saab AB. The Gripen has a delta wing and canard configuration with rela ...

NHIndustries NH90 The NHIndustries NH90 is a European medium-sized, twin-engine, multirole military helicopter. It was the first production helicopter to feature entirely fly-by-wire flight controls.Perry, Dominic"Rotor club: Our top 10 most influential helicop ...

(HKP 14)

Heraldry and traditions

Coat of arms

The unit's first coat of arms, used by the Royal Norrbotten Air Base Corps was used from 1941 to 1963.

Blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

: "Azure, powdered with estoiles or, the provincial badge of

Västerbotten Västerbotten (), sometimes called West Bothnia or Westrobothnia, is a province (''landskap'') in northern Sweden, located by the Gulf of Bothnia. It borders the provinces of Ångermanland, Lapland and Norrbotten. The region is famous for Väs ...

, a reindeer courant argent, armed and langued gules". The unit's second coat of arms, used by Norrbotten Wing, was used from 1963 to 1994. Blazon: "Argent, the town badge of Luleå, two keys azure in saltire, sinister inverted." The current coat of arms has been used since 1994. Blazon: "Argent, the town badge of Luleå, two keys azure in saltire, sinister inverted, a chief azure charged with a winged two-bladed propeller or". File:Norrbottens regemente vapen.svg, Coat of arms used from 1941 to 1963. File:HMS Luleå vapen.svg, Coat of arms used from 1963 to 1994. File:Norrbottens flygflottilj vapen.svg, Coat of arms used from 1994.

Colours, standards and guidons

The colour was presented to the then Royal Norrbotten Air Base Corps (F 21) at

Barkarby Barkarby, also known as Barkarbystaden is an area in Järfälla Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden, and part of the contiguously built-up Stockholm urban area. It is currently undergoing a large urban development through the Barkarbystaden pro ...

by His Majesty the King

Gustaf V Gustaf V (Oscar Gustaf Adolf; 16 June 1858 – 29 October 1950) was King of Sweden from 8 December 1907 until his death in 1950. He was the eldest son of King Oscar II of Sweden and Sophia of Nassau, a half-sister of Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxe ...

on 17 September 1944. The colour is drawn by Brita Grep and embroidered by hand in insertion technique by the company Libraria.

: "On blue cloth in the centre the badge of the Air Force; a winged two-bladed propeller under a royal crown proper, all in yellow. In the first corner the town badge of

Luleå Luleå ( , , locally ; ; ) is a Cities in Sweden, city on the coast of northern Sweden, and the County Administrative Boards of Sweden, capital of Norrbotten County, the northernmost county in Sweden. Luleå has 48,728 inhabitants in its urban ...

; two white keys in saltire, the left inverted." On 2 September 2014 His Majesty the King

Carl XVI Gustaf Carl XVI Gustaf (Carl Gustaf Folke Hubertus; born 30 April 1946) is King of Sweden. Having reigned since 1973, he is the longest-reigning monarch in Swedish history. Carl Gustaf was born during the reign of his paternal great-grandfather, K ...

presented a new colour to wing commander colonel Fredrik Bergman. As a tradition-bearing unit of previously disbanded wings, the new colour added traditional heritage from

Jämtland Wing Jämtland Wing (), also F 4 Frösön, or simply F 4, is a former Swedish Air Force wing with the main base located at Åre Östersund Airport outside Östersund on Frösön in the middle of Sweden. History The airbase was set up in 1926 as the 4t ...

(F 4) and Hälsinge Wing (F 15) in the form of each

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

's coat of arms. The town badge of

, two white keys in saltire can also be found in the new colour. File:Members of the Swedish Honor Guard wait to greet Gen. Jeffrey L. Harrigian, Commander U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa.jpg, Honor guard with the wing's colour File:A member of the Swedish Honor Guard waits to greet Gen. Jeffrey L. Harrigian, Commander U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa.jpg, Honor guard with the wing's colour File:A member of the Swedish Honor Guard waits to greet Gen. Jeffrey L. Harrigian, Commander U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa (2).jpg, Honor guard with the wing's colour

Medals

In 1996, the ''Norrbottens flygflottiljs (F 21) förtjänstmedalj'' ("Norrbotten Wing (F 21) Medal of Merit") in gold (NorrbffljGM) of the 8th size was established. The

medal ribbon A medal ribbon, service ribbon or ribbon bar is a small ribbon, mounted on a small metal bar equipped with an attaching device, which is generally issued for wear in place of a medal when it is not appropriate to wear the actual medal. Each cou ...

is blue with red edges and a yellow stripe on the middle. File:Norrbottens flygflottiljs förtjänstmedalj.svg, Ribbon bar of the medal of merit.

Commanding officers

From 1941 to 1963, the commanding officers was referred to as ''kårchef'' ("corps commander") and had the rank of lieutenant colonel. From 1942, the corps commander had the rank of

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

. From 1942 to 1957, the commanding officer of F 21 was also commanding officer of Upper Norrland Air Defence District (Flybo ÖN). When the wing organization was introduced in 1963, the commanding officer was referred to as ''flottiljchef'' ("wing commander"), and had the rank of colonel. From 1976 to 1994, the wing commander was referred to as ''sektorflottiljchef'' ("sector wing commander") and had the rank of

senior colonel __NOTOC__ Senior colonel is an officer rank usually placed between a regular colonel and a British brigadier or American brigadier general. Use Most western militaries tend to equate a senior colonel as being on the level of a "brigadier general ...

. From 1 July 1994, the commanding officer is again referred to as ''flottiljchef'' ("wing commander"), and has the rank of colonel.

Corps, wing and sector wing commanders

*1941–1942: Fredrik Adilz *1942–1946: Gösta von Porat *1946–1951: Lars-Erik Tornberg *1951–1957: Hugo Svenow *1957–1959: Gunnar Lindberg *1959–1965: Bengt Bellander *1965–1966: Jan Oterdahl *1966–1969: Tord Norlin *1969–1976: Rune Larsson *1976–1980: Hans Hansson *1980–1982: Lars-Bertil Persson *1982–1984:

Bert Stenfeldt Major General Bert Göran Stenfeldt (12 August 1933 – 10 December 2023) was a Swedish Air Force officer. Stenfeldt served as Chief of the Air Staff from 1987 to 1990 and as the Commander General of the 1st Air Command from 1990 to 1994. E ...

*1984–1987: Carl-Johan Rundberg *1987–1991: Roland Magndahl *1 January 1992 – 1993:

Senior Colonel __NOTOC__ Senior colonel is an officer rank usually placed between a regular colonel and a British brigadier or American brigadier general. Use Most western militaries tend to equate a senior colonel as being on the level of a "brigadier general ...

Kent Harrskog Lieutenant General Kent Holger Harrskog (born 11 November 1944) is a retired Swedish Air Force officer. He was Chief of Air Force Command from 1994 to 1998 and military commander of the Southern Military District from 1998 to 2000. Early life Ha ...

*1993–1994:

Curt Westberg Major General Curt Westberg (born 14 September 1943) is a retired Swedish Air Force officer. His senior commands include commanding officer of the Gotland Military District, Central Military District as well as Commandant General in Stockho ...

*1994–1998: Roland Sterner *1998–2001: Frank Fredriksson *2002–2005: Jan Otterström *2005–2008: Lars Jäderblom *2008–2011: Per Nilsson *2011–2015: Fredrik Bergman *2015–2018:

Carl-Johan Edström Lieutenant General Carl-Johan Edström (born 21 May 1967) is a Swedish Air Force officer. He currently serves as Chief of the Defence Staff since 1 October 2024. Prior to that Edström served as Chief of Joint Operations from 2023 to 2024, and ...

*2018–2021: Claes Isoz *2021–2023: Carl-Fredrik Edström *2023–20xx: Peter Greberg

Deputy sector wing commanders

In order to relieve the sector wing commander, a deputy sector wing commander position was added in 1975. Its task was to lead the unit procurement, a task largely similar to the old wing commander position. Hence he was also referred to as ''flottiljchef'' ("wing commander"). The deputy sector wing commander had the rank of colonel. On 30 June 1993, the deputy sector wing commander position was terminated. *1975–1976: Hans Hansson *1977–1979: Bror Larsson *1980–1984: Carl-Johan Rundberg *1984–1988: Karl-Göte Widén *1988–1990:

*1990–1993: ?

Names, designations and locations

Footnotes

References

Notes

Print

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Web

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Norrbotten Wing Wings of the Swedish Air Force Military units and formations established in 1941 Luleå Garrison 1941 establishments in Sweden 20th-century establishments in Norrbotten County